


Love RPGs!

by miseryroot



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: No Naughty Details, They're all nerds forever, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-03-21 05:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13734354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miseryroot/pseuds/miseryroot
Summary: Peridot didn't necessarily love her life, but she was sure that wasn't uncommon for people that worked minimum wage jobs. Her paranoia had prevented her from going to college where everyone had told her she would "excel". Her communicative skills weren't necessarily the best either. The only thing that brought her joy anymore was the RPG she played with her online friends; Mythical Diamond Kingdom!!





	1. Start Our Voyage!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this was inspired by watching the Japanese version of Jump Up, Super Star! over and over again. I saw it was up with subtitles so I was like 'why not?'. Yeah, it made me cry. It's so much better than the English version. Do yourself a favor and watch it. 10/10 would cry again.

Peridot trudged up the several flights of stairs, a bag full of single beers and convenience store food threatening to break open with every minute that passed. The plastic burst apart just as she went to set it on her door mat.

She groaned, unlocked the door, and slapped it open before pushing all of her stuff inside.

"Stupid job, stupid stairs, stupid plastic bags! I always forget those stupid reusable bags at home!" Peridot ranted, shoving everything in the small fridge before closing her door. She stretched out, and started up her PC. It was the only really nice thing she owned, mostly because she put all her money into it. It was important! It was one of her consoles for her only joy in this world. Video games!

A virtual world to get away from this one. She'd been hooked since she was a child. When she was playing nothing else mattered. Real life was bothersome, full of problems that felt impossible to solve. In a game there was always a sure way to do something, you just had to figure out how to!

She grabbed a beer and sat down in her desk chair, logging into her favorite game. Mythical Diamond Kingdom!! was an MMORPG she'd been playing for a year now. It had released five years ago, but it was still doing really well with players.

She put on her headphones, and finally she was immersed in the game. It was the best feeling in the world.

Peridot ran over to her some members of the guild she was in, frowning a bit when she realized they were arguing about something.

"Steven it's not real! It was totally just a myth! People just like to spread rumors of stuff like that for fun!" Amethyst insisted, "Just like you, apparently!"

"I'm telling you it's true! It happened! She came out of my shield! It was incredible! She healed me and gave me massive buffs! I took down the whole dragon BY MYSELF." the boy exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

"What are you guys talking about?" Peridot asked, curious about these buffs.

"Lapis Lazuli. He thinks he saw her and she helped him. Are you sure it wasn't just a dream, Steven? Dreams can be very vivid." Pearl replied.

"Lapis Lazuli?!" Peridot's character doubled over, laughing emote style, "Steven she's a rumor! People made reports about her when the game **started** then less and less people 'saw' her. I haven't even heard about her since I started playing. She's just a fake NPC someone made up."

"I'll show you guys! Right now! Let's go fight a boss. A really difficult one. With her help we can beat them without a doubt." Steven insisted.

"Fine! Let's go!" Amethyst retorted, "It won't happen!"

"This is so stupid! Let's make it quick." Peridot muttered, rolling her eyes.

They used the teleportation hub to get to the volcanic region. It housed one of the most difficult bosses in the game. It had taken their whole guild a month to beat the viciously hellish creature that lived there, and now they were going into this challenge with only four people. They fought their way through the horde of lower level enemies to get to the room that triggered the boss event.

Suddenly a hissing three-headed golem appeared in all it's giant splendor. It attacked right away, and they narrowly dodged it.

"I call upon Lapis Lazuli!" Steven shouted, throwing his shield up in the air and... nothing happened, "Wh-Why isn't it working?! She said it would work!"

Amethyst started cracking up, but was quickly halted when the golem smashed her into the wall with it's giant club.

"Oh shit!" Peridot cried.

Their real battle began then, but it was futile. They went down one by one, quickly almost entirely out of health. When Steven fell, his shield dropped face up to the ground. Steven's shield was pretty impressive. He had it gotten it for completing the Medusa quest, so on top of being super great for defense it was also a big mirror.

But it had never done anything like this before. The whole team gasped as it began to grow, and a brilliant figure emerged.

A stunning NPC, a valkyrie there to save them from this pummeling. Her blue hair was silky and short, her massive wings extending out from her scantly clad back. Her eyes were blue slits, flickering back and forth to look at them, taking in the situation. A metal collar rested on her neck, a broken chain swinging from it. She flew up, kicked the golem into the wall with her harpy-like raptor feet to get it away from their team before flying back and raising a magnificent staff.

"I chant to bring on the life force of others before me!  
Those who want to live,  
Those who want to see!  
An ever loving rain upon,  
Anyone who has seen love long gone!  
My magic to be disposed  
To those who want to be heroes!  
Save me."

Peridot gaped as what she could only describe as magic rained down, all her health returning and her stats going off the charts. The small team rushed forward, making quick work of the golem.

"Lapis! Thank you!" Steven cheered, rushing over to her as she flew down.

"Anything for a true hero!" The NPC beamed, pointing at the collar.

"Sorry again that I couldn't get the whole thing off." Steven apologized as the valkyrie shook a few loose feathers out of her wings.

"Th-This is impossible! How did this happen?!" Pearl shrieked, rushing towards the NPC to check her out up close.

"I told you! I got ambushed by a dragon! I thought I was going to die and she flew out of the mirror on my shield. She saved me just like she saved us. But she was trapped to the mirror. So I freed her and she offered to help me whenever!" Steven retold his tail, the NPC nodding along.

"This is awesome! Thanks girl, you're the best magician ever!" Amethyst exclaimed, looking at Lapis' wings.

Peridot couldn't say anything, she was just standing there, her jaw doing it's best to try and drop to the floor.

"That one's weird." Lapis Lazuli announced, pointing at the blonde.


	2. A New Journey!

"Her equipment seems to be one of a kind. I've never seen any NPC with such nice details other than very important ones. She must be very significant, let's ask her what her quest is." Pearl announced, kneeling down to look Lapis' eagle-like legs.

"I have many other designs as well, contingent on the environment. You want to hear my story?" the valkyrie asked, glaring at Peridot slightly as the blonde got right up in her face.

"She emotes so well... She's so pretty, too. I agree with Pearl, she must be super important." Peridot declared.

"Well, thank you, but please back away. Also, please stop talking around me instead of at me. It's very rude, even in your language." Lapis said, backing away herself.

"How does she- Sorry, you. How do you respond so well? And to everything. Other NPCs don't talk like you." Peridot asked, blushing bright red in real life for having her compliment acknowledged directly.

"I'm not an NPC." Lapis responded.

"She doesn't believe she's an NPC, but there's no character model in the game for what she can do, or dual capabilities. If she was strictly a mage her kick attack shouldn't have been strong enough to push the golem. Not only that, but I've never seen a player that strong. A player couldn't be trapped in Steven's shield. This is probably just an extension of the Medusa quest since that's when you got the shield." Pearl continued to took at Lapis' design, now staring directly into her slit bird eyes.

"I don't believe I'm an NPC because I'm **not**! I just get stuck in NPC like situations... Look, it's complicated, okay? I do have a quest for everyone, though. I need your help. I'm stuck in this game. It's like a weird curse or something. The game offered me this character when I started the game. I accepted, but when I went to sleep that night I woke up here in the morning." Lapis huffed, wings twitching in annoyance.

"That's impossible." Pearl rebuffed.

"Shut up Pearl! Wait- If people were seeing you when the game started then that means..." Amethyst trailed off, realization dawning on her.

"I've been trapped here for five years." the valkyrie confirmed.

"Holy shit... Holy shit!" Peridot exclaimed, "Oh what the hell.. This is so cool! You're like... actually **in** the game! What did you agree to?! Sign me up!"

"No, no... You don't want to be stuck here. You end up getting used as a tool for the system in all sorts of weird ways! I was trapped in that mirror for a year! Before that I was a captive mermaid princess, and before that I had a sleeping curse put on me by an ice troll as this very valkyrie! Not to mention that my life in the real world is totally gone. I've probably been reported missing or dead. I've had to learn several different languages to be able to communicate with people! I didn't even know English! I'm Japanese!" Lapis ranted.

"Oh Lapis! How do we help you?" Steven asked, spamming the crying emote for his character.

"Well.. I don't know. I don't really know how I got here, and I have no idea how to get back. But it has to be possible, right?" Lapis frowned, "I've never had anyone believe me before."

"I don't believe you." Pearl piped up, "This is impossible. As far as I'm concerned you're just an elaborate program."

"Pearl!" Steven cried.

"Don't be such a bitch!" Amethyst snapped.

"Isn't it fun, though? Why would you want to come back to this world? There's nothing good here. You're not aging are you? You clearly don't have to eat or drink anything since you were trapped in the shield and didn't die. You get to be a gorgeous character in this beautiful game, having first hand experiences with elaborate quests." Peridot muttered, "That's basically my dream and you want to leave? For what?"

"No I'm not aging! But that's just another problem! What, I don't age or die and just live here forever alone when everyone stops playing this game?! Don't impose your wants onto me! I want to go home! I want to see my mother! I want to eat her home cooked dinner and hug her again! You don't know anything!" Lapis hissed, getting in the blonde's face. Her slit eyes looked menacing as she glared at the other girl.

It was in that moment that she noted Lapis had fanged teeth and could look not only pretty, but also terrifying. Peridot cracked open another beer in real life and slammed it. She messed up. She made yet another communication faux pas, and this time in her favorite RPG. It was time to crawl under a rock and die.

"W-wait Lapis! Peridot doesn't mean it, I'm sure. She just doesn't have the best life out here!" Steven interjected.

Lapis frowned, backing away, "I would trade with you if I could. Happily."

"We're going to do our best to try to get out of here! I bet the rest of our guild would be willing to try to help to! In fact, you should join our guild!" Steven smiled, "You're so powerful that everyone will be overjoyed to have your help!"

"Thank you Steven! You're my hero!" Lapis beamed, ruffling the boy's hair with her hand.

"Yeah, hopefully we can even have you free before you get dragged off to another crazy quest!" Amethyst added, grinning.

"About that.. I think that as long as this collar is still attached then the quest isn't officially over. I wasn't in this form yesterday when Steven saved me, but the collar didn't disappear when I shifted to this form." Lapis explained, "It has a key hole, so it must need a key. Hopefully this can buy us a lot of time! The only downside is that it appears I have to have a mirror around in order to be present."

"Oh my stars! It's midnight! I have work tomorrow! I have to go!" Pearl exclaimed, quickly logging out.

Amethyst and Steven both got panicked looks on their faces, "We have school!"

"Well I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then. I'm going to try to level up. I don't work tomorrow." Peridot stated, shrugging her shoulders. Amethyst waved and logged out.

"Okay! Well, here! Take my shield so Lapis can stay out with you then!" Steven said, opening the gifting option on his laptop, transferring it to Peridot.

"What?!" Lapis exclaimed, looking very displeased with this turnout.

"Well, you need a mirror to stay around right? You should get to know each other! If you're going to be a member of our guild it'll be good to get along!" Steven explained, smiling.

"I don't think I can get along with her, Steven." Lapis frowned.

"Sorry, Lapis, but I have to go! Peridot's nice! Get to know her and you'll definitely be friends!" And with that Steven logged out as well.

Lapis sighed, looking over at Peridot.

"What are we going to do?" the valkyrie asked.

"Well.. I was just going to fight a bunch of monsters to level up. You said your form was contingent on the environment, right? Do you have any that are more normal so we won't have people swarming us and asking where you got your gear?" Peridot asked.

Lapis scowled, "I only have one skin that everyone else could have gotten if they played the Valentine's Day event four years ago and I would really rather no-"

" **What?!** " Peridot interjected with her shriek of excitement, "You have the Shiny Shiny Love schoolgirl uniform?! It's so rare now! We are totally going to the schooling region I have to see this!"

"It's really embarrassing and I don't want to." Lapis shook her head.

"I think you mean it's awesome and I'm technically helping you out so we are totally going."

"I hate you!"

"Doesn't matter! We're still going!" Peridot grinned, pulling out a teleportation crystal and using it before the valkyrie could stop her.

They reappeared in front of a massive school, players all around the plaza chatting. Peridot took one look at Lapis and spammed the hell out of the laughing emote.

The girl was standing there in black long socks that went on to her thighs, shiny black shoes, a super short skirt, a white long sleeve with a ribbon tied around the neck and a sweater. It already looked rather comical if not for the additional fact that Lapis was still stuck with the collar and chain around her neck. Her hair looked the same as well.

"Shut up!" Lapis snapped, punching Peridot's avatar. The blonde frowned as her HP lowered a bit.

"Okay, okay. It's just **so** anime school girl. It's so funny. Here, let me help you with the chain. I did a gardening quest once and got an array of cutting tools made out of diamond. It should be able to cut it off." Peridot offered, selecting the tools and verifying the performance of the action.

She grabbed another beer and shifted her weight in her chair while her avatar tried the different tools until one finally worked.

Peridot smiled, and lifted the shield up so Lapis could see herself, "Better?"

"Actually, yeah.. It wouldn't stop swinging and that was getting annoying. Plus it's not as heavy now." Lapis replied, sounding a little relieved.

"So... Is this sort of how you looked in the real world?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, except I never wore a skirt this short. It's really embarrassing. I didn't want to wear this skin because it has this affect where-" Lapis was cut off by a large breeze blowing up against her, lifting her skirt up to expose the panties underneath, "That! Dammit!"

Lapis grabbed her skirt and held it firmly at her sides. The japanese girl was blushing and glaring at the ground. Peridot was blushing as well, but at least it was behind a screen and she could hide it. She supposed that maybe Lapis was right about there being downsides to being stuck in a game.

"It's okay, to everyone you're just an avatar. They're just panties." Peridot announced, trying to ease the poor girl's embarrassment.

"I'm just going to hold it down until we leave. I have an elf skin that would probably be okay."

"That would probably be best. We'll leave soon."


	3. Great & Lovable!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow my Tumblr for update announcements and other things at miseryroot.

"So, you didn't know English? What other languages did you have to learn?" Peridot asked.

"Well, didn't know it is sort of a stretch. I knew some English, I just wasn't fluent like I am now. I learned some Chinese, Spanish, German, but since most people speak a least a little English I haven't had to learn every language." Lapis replied, pulling back her bow to shoot an enemy across the field.

Peridot had made the call to leave the school after a quick side quest. They were both very relieved to not have to worry about Lapis' skirt coming up again.

The idea that Lapis was a real girl in the game, making those real panties, was just too much for Peridot.

They'd gone to the elven plains about an hours ago. Lapis was clearly pleased to change. Her elf form came with impossibly long ears. Her hair was still short, and in two tiny braided ponytails.

Her outfit consisted of a green long sleeve top, white shorts, and thigh high brown boots. She carried a bow, and a knife in the utility belt on her hip. The details were very impressive, but it looked normal enough from far away.

They made a point to avoid people as much as they could, solely because Peridot could not stand to be bothered by anyone outside of her guild.

"That's impressive. What other event quests were you involved in?" Peridot inquired, "It must be amazing to be apart of the fun."

"It used to be really fun, but ever since I showed resistance the system has been putting me in quests designed to trap me here." Lapis sighed, shooting another enemy through the chest, "I was in all sorts of quests, usually as a side character to slow my noticability."

"Why did you start to resist if it used to be fun?"

The elf frowned, shaking her head, "I heard about a tsunami in Japan. I started to worry about my mother. I had no way of knowing if she was okay. It was like a switch flipped in me. Suddenly I was homesick every day."

"But not before?"

"No. My mom and I fought a lot, my part time job was working at a maid cafe that I hated, and I wasn't doing the best in school. So at first I thought this was amazing and that I was lucky." Lapis muttered, "It was too good to be true."

"Is there anyone else stuck in the game?"

"Not as far as I know. That's another thing that's miserable about this. I'm alone."

"Not anyone. You're going to join my guild, right? We'll keep you company." Peridot objected.

"You know.. Even though I hate you, I'm glad you're here. Thank you for letting me tag along." The elf smiled a bit.

"What?! You still hate me? Why?!" The blonde exclaimed, avatar jumping up and down.

"You're arrogant and hard headed."

"W- Well you're a clod! How dare you! I'm the great and lovable Peridot!"

"For all I know you could be a sweaty, fat middle aged pervert."

"I'm not! I'm a twenty two year old woman and I look great! I'm even told I have a nice behind!"

Lapis busted up laughing, falling to the ground.

"A nice behind!" The elf cried out, kicking her legs, "Oh my god!"

"S-Shut up! I hate you!"

"No you don't." Lapis grinned, sitting up, "You think I'm pretty."

Peridot blushed, remembering she comment from earlier in the night. She spammed the anger emote in retaliation.

"I can think you're pretty and still hate you!" Peridot screamed as Lapis laughed at her again.

Peridot crushed her empty beer can in her hand, trying to think of what to say when she got a message.

_From: Garnet_

When she finished reading it she looked back to her screen, noticing Lapis was waving her hand in the blonde avatar's face.

"Sorry, I got a message from our guild leader. She wants us to go meet her." Peridot relayed the information, "Are you ready?"

"Of course! Let's go!"

They teleported to Crystal Gem HQ, a generic room that every guild had so everyone's avatars could have a place to meet and discuss buisness.

Peridot noted that Lapis' design stayed the same. It made sense that she wouldn't have one specifically for a generic room, but the blonde was wondering what the elf's base avatar looked like.

"You must be Lapis Lazuli. Steven sent me a message about you. Would you like to join our guild?" Garnet walked over to them.

"Yes. Would you all be willing to try to help me?" Lapis asked, looking up at the woman's tall avatar.

"I will. I believe Steven and Amethyst also agreed to help. I am the leader, but I won't force anyone to help you. I already got a concerned message from Pearl."

"Yes, the tall one. Or, the other tall one I guess.. She doesn't believe me." The elf sighed, "I don't need you to force anyone to help me. Just having Steven offer has to have upped my chances in finding a way out."

"I would like for you to entertain the possibility that you won't be able to get out as well. I don't want you to get swept away in Steven's endless enthusiasm. Let us know how we can help you in the game to make this less difficult." Garnet said.

Lapis frowned, "Okay. Well thank you. For your help and for believing me."

"I believe Steven. I don't know you. Anyone can join our guild by invite, so I can't object to Steven's decision. But I share Pearl's concern as well. You are an anomaly. If it was up to me I wouldn't want anyone in the guild involved in this. What if we end up the same way as you by simply being around you?" Garnet clarified.

"Oh.. I understand." Lapis murmured.

"If it's a case of proximity I would like to be around her the most!" Peridot exclaimed, "Or if we find out it could be transferred or something or-"

"No! After all the bad things I told you about being stuck here and you're still saying this stuff!" Lapis snapped, scowling.

"You already hate me, I see no need to filter myself around you in an attempt to make you like me. And the way I see it, I play the game the most so you're going to be stuck with me a lot of the time whether you like it or not. So I can say whatever I want. What are you going to do about it?"

"Y-you! You big behinded clod!" The elf hissed, fists balled up at her side.

"Hey that's my word!"


	4. Don't Cry!

"Steven!"

"Lapis! I'm back! Thanks for staying up all night Peridot." The boy said, his avatar doing a little dance as he pressed the happy emote.

"I was going to do it anyways, I just dragged her along with me." The blonde replied, "I am tired though, so I'll be going now."

"See you later!" Steven waved as she signed out. 

Peridot sighed as she turned off her computer. It was the worst part of the day. Her special place faded away with the slow decline of humming from her PC.

She rubbed her dry, tired eyes before grabbing half a sandwich from the fridge to pacify her furious stomach before laying down to entertain whatever dreams she would have that night.

\-------------------------------------

"So, I haven't been able to find anything out so far. It's kind of hard to find any sort of information on it, and if I'm being honest I really only got results for animes and books." Steven laughed nervously.

"That... would make sense, I suppose. I don't think many people deal with be abducted by a computer." Lapis frowned, "I talked to Garnet."

"You did? She's very cool, isn't she? Are you part of the guild now?"

"I would say that cool would have definitely been the temperature of the situation. She said that your invite made me part of your guild. But I wouldn't be if it were up to her."

"That doesn't sound like Garnet.." Steven trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay Steven. She's just worried about you all being around me. I don't think she was trying to be cruel." Lapis shrugged, "Let's forget about this for now and play the game. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I want to look for a special item for Connie. I don't think you've met her yet, but she's excited to meet you already. She doesn't get to play online often."

"Let's go!"

\----------------------------------

Peridot groaned, scanning in the back room of items as quickly as possible. Her shift was supposed to be over an hour ago. She just wanted to go home and play MDH!! before she had to go to sleep for work tomorrow.

Lapis joined their guild a week ago, and while they hadn't been able to do anything to help her so far she was doing the exact opposite. 

The blue haired girl excelled in the game and made everything easier. They were able to take on creatures of much higher difficulty than before and win without too much of a struggle.

Now if only she could figure out how to get Lapis to stop hating her. She didn't necessarily have to like Peridot, but the blonde at least wanted to be tolerated like everyone else except for Steven.

Okay, that was a lie. She totally wanted the super cool, super strong Lapis Lazuli to like her. Who wouldn't want to be liked by someone that had what they dreamed of having? 

She wondered what Lapis was like in high school. She imagined a young Japanese girl with blue dye in her hair, smoking a cigarette on the side of the building while ditching class.

Maybe she would ask tonight in her never-ending game of one hundred and one questions with the poor girl trapped behind the screen.

\---------------------------

The blonde's plans to immediately ask Lapis a bunch of questions was foiled when she logged in a saw the blue haired girl crying.

Steven was at her side, talking to her.

"She could have just decided to stop using social media. A lot of people do that now." He said, trying to soothe his friend's worries.

Peridot sent a private message to him immediately to ask what was going on. He sent back a message saying that Amethyst found Lapis' mother's facebook, but it hasn't been active in three years.

The blonde watched as Lapis sat on the floor of the guild hall and bawled her eyes out. The blue haired girl had been stuck in this game for five years, but Peridot never saw her cry about it.

Peridot brought up her internet browser, and put in all their information. It didn't make sense that this woman's only presence on the internet was a nonactive facebook account.

A lightbulb went off in Peridot's head and she messaged Steven to ask for the elusive woman's maiden name.

There is was. The hidden proof that Lapis' mother was alive. A twitter profile and a linkedin. Twitter last updated three days ago with a picture of a cat with one kitten and a picture of what she could only assume was this woman at a younger age with a baby Lapis Lazuli.

 _My daughter's cat finally had her kittens. This was the only one that survived. So here's a picture of her only one and my only one._

Peridot quickly returned to her gaming browser and ran her character over to Lapis.

"She's alive! She reverted back to her maiden name! She has a twitter and a linkedin! And your cat had a kitten!" The blonde quickly word vomited, "Three days ago! Updated three days ago! She's okay and she misses you!"

"You found her..." Lapis murmured, sniffling.

"I found her. I even got to see a picture of baby you." Period confirmed, grinning to herself.

She then proceeded to watch as Lapis jumped up to hug her avatar. The blue haired girl was still crying, but now it was all okay. Period couldn't feel the embrace, but the sentiment was shared.

"So how old is your cat? Thinking of that, how old are you? Can you pet the cats that are in game?" Peridot decided that now it would probably be fine to start asking questions again.

Lapis sniffled, backing away from the blonde's avatar.

"You and your insensitive big behind." 

"Hey! I'm not insensitive! I helped you clod!"

The blue haired girl laughed, letting out a small snort, "You did. Okay.."

That night Lapis answered almost all of Peridot's inane questions and only actually got mad at at her once. 


	5. Flowers For You!

Lapis had been exploring the Ice Caves of the Mystics with Steven when Peridot logged on the next day. She expected a tirade of questions about her avatar today. It was a fennel fox based avatar that made her hair white to match the fox ears and even had a tail. She thought Peridot would flip out over the aesthetic changes or even poke fun at her for how the ears twitched.

But it was nothing like that. Peridot got there, greeted both of them and started planning their attack pattern immediately. They stood there as Peridot rattled on about what they could and should collect while they were there, and the best way to achieve those goals before Steven had to log off.

After that they got right into fighting monsters and looting the cavern. Instead of joking around of geeking out over anything the blonde just laid into enemies with her sword. It was weird, and sort of eerie. Steven would make small comments and they'd wait for her to say something, but she barely ever would.

Lapis and Steven chatted awkwardly for the next few hours until the boy had to log off. She waved at him, before looking over at Peridot.

"What do you want to do now?" Lapis asked, running her fingers through her tail in an attempt to ease her nerves. 

"Let's just keep fighting. We still have things we can quest for here." Peridot muttered, rushing ahead. Lapis sighed and quickly followed after her.

Normally she would be over the moon when the blonde was so absorbed by the quests that she shut up, but this was so different. Even her voice coming through over the mic sounded strained.

"You're so weird. What's wrong?" she decided to ask as they walked further down into the cavern.

"What? No. Nothing." Peridot deadpanned, rushing forward again.

"You're lying, something is obviously wrong." Lapis scowled, running to catch up.

"Nope. There's nothing wrong. I'm having the time of my life." Peridot said, voice sounding more agitated with every word.

"Just tell me what's wrong. You're not acting like yourself at all."

"Shut up! What do you care anyways?! You actively tell me that you hate me! You should be loving this! No annoying questions, no annoying Peridot! Just leave me alone! I don't want to talk about it! This is a game! I just want to have fun and forget about my problems!" Peridot snapped, voice getting louder and louder, "I wish you were just a normal NPC!"

Lapis stopped dead in her tracks, shock clear on her face. Since when did Peridot yell? Since when did Peridot say cruel things to people?

"Shit, I'm so sorry.. I'm just-"

"Hello, young traveler. You must be a tireless fighter, managing to make it this far into my cave. I would love to reward you for your bravery, but my treasure room has been taken over by a terrible ogre. If you escort me there and defeat the monster I will reward you greatly." Lapis murmured. Her voice sounded so serene, and she stood up perfectly straight, tail swishing as she extended her hand out to the blonde.

"What are you-"

"Do you accept this quest?" Lapis asked, tilting her head.

Peridot stood there dumbfounded. What was going on? She just totally freaked out and instead of getting mad Lapis was standing there giving her a quest like an NPC.

Just like an NPC. Oh shit. Had she triggered some sort of feature that was forcing Lapis to act like a part of the game?

"Do you accept this quest?" Lapis repeated.

"Lap-"

"Do you accepct this quest?"

Peridot wasn't sure this was going to stop if she didn't. The fox was just blankly staring at her like any other NPC would. There was no indication that Lapis was even registering what she was saying. Maybe if she completed the quest Lapis would go back to normal?

"I accept."

The instructions to the quest and a new area in the cave opened up. Lapis trailed behind her as she walked just like an NPC being escourted, not saying a single word or lifting a hand to help with any cool moves like she definitely would have.

Peridot took out every monster alone, and they finally got to the last area an hour later. She'd ran through a lot of health potions and buffing items since Lapis wasn't assisting like she normally would have.

Then there was the ogre. As soon as the arena opened it let out a terrible scream and grabbed Lapis. The ogre stuffed her in a beautifully decorated fox trap. It was dawning on Peridot now more than ever that Lapis was not going to be able to help her and she was all alone in a boss fight with a relatively high difficulty.

Also that Lapis put up with some weird crap in this game.

Peridot used some more buffs quickly, and dodged the attacks until she could figure out what the pattern was. Once she did she managed to get a fourth of his health down, but her's was at half and his attack pattern changed again.

"I believe in you, hero!" Lapis cried out. Peridot almost laughed at how cliche it was, but she noticed that it gave her back half of her lost health as well as adding a nice agility boost.

It took her a while to finish fighting the ogre. She ran through every health potion and charm she'd brought with her that night. It felt like this battle was never going to end, the attack pattern just kept changing. Lapis only helped her with small boosts from her basic NPC cheers of encouragement.

Finally the ogre fell and the cage vanished. She rushed over to the fox girl, hoping that she wouldn't say something totally NPC like.

"It took you long enough." Lapis grinned, showing off her canines.

"You're okay!" Peridot smiled, feeling completely relieved.

"Of course I am. Why would I not be okay?"

"Because you were being so weird! You were acting like an NPC!" Peridot huffed, her avatar throwing her arms up in the air.

"No shit, dummy. I was **acting**. You told me you wished I was an NPC. So I activated my old quest for this cave and went along with it." Lapis rolled her eyes.

"You- Wait.. You played along like you were an NPC and activated an old quest because I said that? Why?" Peridot asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You were totally freaking me out. What you said really pissed me off, but you seemed upset. You said you just wanted to play the game. I can understand that feeling. So I thought, hey we're here and I have this quest from this old event, why not?" Lapis shrugged, "Do you feel better now?"

Peridot wasn't responding, though. All Lapis could hear coming from the blonde's mic was heavy breathing and sniffling. What the hell was she- Oh, no way!

"Are you crying? You big baby!"

"Sh-Shut up you clod!" Peridot snapped back, pressing the anger emote as fast as she could, "I just.. I've been having a terrible week. My job is the worst and my landlord is thinking about selling the building I live in. Then I got a call from my mom and all she could tell me was how disappointed she is. Then here you are, asking me what's wrong and I yell at you. And what do you do? Start an amazing quest for me in my favorite game to cheer me up. Yeah, I'm freaking crying."

Lapis groaned, plopping down to sit on the ground. She dug through her inventory through various quest items and pulled out a bunch of flowers and a long ribbon.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up." Lapis snapped, ears twitching furiously as she arranged the flowers and tied the ribbon around them firmly. She stood up, selecting the gifting process and a few items over to the blonde.

"Whenever something really bad happened to me my mom would take me downstairs to our flower shop and make me a bouquet. It was silly, because we were always around flowers. But whenever I was down and she made them just for me nothing felt better than getting those arrangements." Lapis sighed, frowning a bit, "There's this thing about about something made just for you. It makes you feel special, I think."

"Holy crap.. Lapis, you have a heart! A giant, mushy heart! You are the biggest softy I have ever met!" Peridot sneered, smiling as she checked her gifted items.

"Ugh! I hate you! Shut up! I felt bad for you! It's called pity!" Lapis hissed, tail bristling up as her ears flattened to her head.

Peridot just smiled and laughed as she looked at the flowers through her 3D viewer in her inventory. The fox girl was definitely onto something. Getting this pretty arrangement did make her feel really nice. She also felt sort of like a jerk. She shouldn't have snapped at Lapis just because she was upset.

"Look.. I'm sorry about what I said. I don't just want you to be an NPC. I was mad so I went off on you, but that wasn't okay. I was being terrible." the blonde apologized.

"Yeah, you were. You're an annoying, big reared girl with no consideration for others." Lapis muttered, "But... I've taken my anger out on people before, too. And I know what it feels like to just want to be happy in some sort of reality, even if it's just a game."

"Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful." Peridot mused, "Your design is really nice, too. You look nice with white hair. The ears and tail are cute, too."

Lapis blushed, and turned away.

"P-Pervert!"

Peridot laughed as she watched the other girl's tail wag at the compliments despite what she said.


	6. Happy Birthday!

"Her birthday is tomorrow. What are we going to do?" Steven asked, frowning, "I made sure everyone would be able to log on at the same time, but what's a birthday without cake and presents?"

"You know homegirl won't care. I mean this'll be the first birthday in five years that she hasn't spent alone." Amethyst shrugged, "Don't stress out about it."

"You guys are thinking about this the wrong way." Peridot announced, "There's a cake shop in central square. To her the things in the game are like real objects. She gave me something from her inventory once so she has to be able to receive items too. So that's how we'll do it."

"That's a good idea! Okay, I've got to go get her something!" Steven chirped, rushing off.

"Geez, he doesn't have to be in that big a rush." Amethyst said, "I'll just give her food. It's not like she can equipt any items anyways."

"That's probably all anyone will get her." Peridot shrugged, "It's not a bad gift. She likes to eat even though she doesn't have to."

"What are you going to get her? Better be something good for your virtual girlfriend."

The blonde turned bright red, pushing away from her computer desk a bit before replying, "She's not my girlfriend."

"You could've fooled everyone in the guild. You guys are always flirting with each other."

"Flirting?! We're always arguing!" Peridot objected.

"Yeah, and it's not like I should get that close to her anyways, right?" Lapis muttered, suddenly walking up with Pearl and Garnet hot on her heels, "Shouldn't get to close to **anyone** for that matter. We wouldn't want someone getting to attached to the anomaly."

"Lapis please don't take it so pers-" Pearl began, only to be cut off.

"Personally?! Because it's not like I'm a person or anything right?!" Lapis snapped, storming up to Peridot's avatar.

They all watched as she grabbed the character's shoulders and planted her lips on it's own.

"That's crass!" Pearl shouted.

"You feel anything? Get any weird emails or notifications from the game?" Lapis asked, face full of unbridled rage.

"N-No.." the blonde murmured.

"I thought so." Lapis muttered, turning back to face Garnet and Pearl, "Nothing is going to happen to anyone for getting to close to me! It would have already happened! And there's nothing going on with us! You heard her say so when we walked up! Even if there was, as you can see I am incapable of providing a psychical relationship.."

"You have to understand our concern." Garnet sighed, "We're just worried that since we don't know how this happened to you it could happen to anyone."

"I'm tired of being the one that **has to understand**." 

That was all Lapis had to say before slipping into the shield that Garnet was in possession of for their chat. They'd never seen her call it a night early and not take up the opportunity to not be alone.

"Nice job, guys. Very effective!" Amethyst said, sarcasm clear in her voice.

"We were just trying to figure out what was going on! We're worried okay?!" Pearl snapped.

"A lot of good it did!"

The only person that noticed Peridot go into AFK mode was Garnet as the other two girls argued.

The blonde trudged into her kitchen. She grabbed two glasses of water, heating one up in her microwave and grabbing a package of spicy instant ramen.

Lapis kissed her. Well, she kissed an avatar that represented her. Peridot didn't know how to feel about it. Obviously it wasn't with an sort of romantic intention. It was just to prove a point.

She knew she shouldn't feel bad about it, but it sort of stung to feel like you were being used. It was the closest that she'd ever gotten to a kiss due to her social issues, and it was just to get a point across.

She drank half her water as the ramen heated up and swapped it for a beer. Today even the online world felt difficult.

She brought her food and beverage back to her desk. Amethyst and Pearl were still arguing.

Peridot believed Amethyst had a good point. Getting on Lapis' case about a bunch of hypothetical things wasn't going anyone any good. She was glad Steven wasn't there to see them treat Lapis as not only a threat, but also less than human.

She was sure he wouldn't take it very well. Peridot wasnt taking it very well. It made her mad at her friends. It wasn't like Lapis wasn't a person just because she didn't have a physical body.

Lapis was clever in a way an AI could never be. She was even funny at times. Even though the virtual girl could be a bit overly forward sometimes she never meant any harm, and she was kind too.

Lapis was definitely a person. Because if she wasn't Peridot wouldn't feel so bothered by getting kissed for such a bad reason.

Peridot sighed and took a long swig of her beer before eating her ramen. It was hot. Really, really mouth burning. Her drink could hardly give pause to the heat. It gave her a good excuse when a few tears rolled down her face.

She didn't want to be used by Lapis. She possibly even wanted to actually kiss the girl that she constantly annoyed with questions. She definitely didn't want it to be like this.

Peridot rubbed her face and finished her food before throwing it in the bin and chugging the rest of her beer.

She put her mic back on. Steven was back and everyone had stopped arguing. They'd decided to go on a quest before everyone went to bed.

It wasn't until Peridot was the only one online that Lapis came back out of the shield.

They'd been questing in an underwater area, so Lapis' appearance was unique to fit the situation just like every other area in the game.

She had a long, flowing mermaid tail. The scales holographic blue, green, gold and yellow. The weren't only on her tail, but also littered across her body. They covered her chest and the sides of her face.

Her eyes were pitch black, and her nails were long and sharp. All of her teeth were sharp and pointed like a shark's.

She looked terrifying, and pretty as always.

"I'm sorry." Lapis mumbled, looking away. Her short hair swished around in water every time she moved.

"You're.. sorry? You're apologizing.. The proud and mighty Lapis Lazuli." Peridot mused, snickering at the situation.

"S-Shut up! I should have never thought it would have mattered to you! I just felt bad. It was weird of me to kiss your avatar.. So I wanted to apologize but obviously it was no big deal to you so I don't know why I bothered." Lapis muttered, turning to swim away, "Let's just play the-"

"I forgive you." Peridot stated, avatar swimming closer to the mermaid, "It mattered. It's the closest I've ever gotten to being kissed and it was by a girl that hates me. And you only kissed me to prove them wrong. You used me. It hurt my feelings."

Lapis looked back at the blonde, a sad expression on her face.

"I didn't mean to hurt you.. I was just so mad. I was the one who was inconsiderate this time." Lapis said meekly, "And.. I don't hate you. Not anymore."

Peridot smiled a bit at that last comment, taking a sip of water. She'd had an inkling of a thought that Lapis had stopped hating her. It was nice to have it confirmed.

"What should we do now?" The blonde asked, deciding to take the tension out of the situation.

"I've got some mini quests I could activate. They're a little fun, if you're up to it." Lapis smiled, activating her screen.

"What?! Of course I'm up to it!"

\-----------------------------------------

Several hours and tons of quests later they were sitting in a cove, trying to figure out what was next. 

Peridot checked the time. It was seven in the morning in Nevada, which meant in Japan it was finally midnight.

The blonde smiled, opening up her inventory and using her mouse to select Lapis as the person to receive the gift. She sent it off, eager to see the look of surprise on the mermaid's face.

Lapis gasped, accepting to gift and clutching a bouquet. It was a disorganized bunch of flowers, but she smiled when she realized what they were. 

Hydrangea for hope and faith, daffodils for happiness, chrysanthemums for support and friendship. It was not the prettiest bouquet, but the meaning was all there.

"Why did you.. How did you.."

"There's a flower shop in the Elven Plains. They give stat bonuses, not that you need them or anything. As for the why, well, it's the twenty second of Febuary." Peridot replied, watching as the mermaid held the flowers as delicately as she could with her long nails.

"It's my.."

"Happy 23rd birthday, Lapis."


	7. Who Do You Like?!

Lapis and Peridot had been attached at the hip ever since that night. They still argued all the time, but now it seemed more like they were joking than it being serious.

Today they were in the Castle of Blood on to complete the 'Demons Inside You!' event. Everyone else had already called it a night after getting the special drop item. Peridot was the only one who hadn't managed to get it yet and she was getting really frustrated since she only had about three more hours online before she had to go to sleep for work the next day.

Lapis seemed unconcerned, stating that they could always take on the quest tomorrow as well. It made Peridot feel a little bit better to know that she wouldn't have to do it alone, and the bad part of her was glad she might be able to see the blue haired girl in this costume again. It was way too good to pass up teasing her on this one.

Being that it was the Castle of Blood, Lapis was a vampire. Her eyes were blood red, skin paper white in great contrast to the long black dress that hugged every inch of her body, complete with a slit in it that went all the way up to the top of her thigh. Her heels were impossibly high, and she had tiny devil wings on her back.

She was the quintessential slutty vampire and it was too hilarious. Even Lapis herself had to poke fun at this, "No one could wear this in real life and breathe! I mean, come on! What a bunch of perverts."

When she laughed her vampire fangs glistened in the dimly lit room and there was just something real sinister looking about it. At least the costume were designed well, despite the sexual overtones that RPG games typically had to them as far as the outfits for women went.

They raced through the stone palace, Lapis swinging the scythe she got with this skin, defending Peridot's back as the enemies closed in. They thought that getting deeper in the castle would be a good idea, that the drop rates would be better with more difficult enemies.

It was beginning to be more and more difficult for just the two of them, though. Lapis had great attack, speed, and mana buff spells in this zone, but the defense was on the weak side. With more people it would be no problem, but they were quickly figuring out that this was very difficult with a small party.

When they got through the enemies in the room Lapis huffed, dropping to the floor on her butt, "Did you get the item from any of them?"

"Nope. This is starting to feel impossible." Peridot sighed, "Maybe tonight's just not the night."

"The next room has a boss level. We could probably handle it, but we shouldn't go any further." Lapis murmured, "Can we take a break first, though? My health is down right now."

"Yeah, same." The blonde replied, using some health potions on her character and watching as the vampire consumed the actual food from the game. She wondered what it was like for everything in the game to be so real.

She found her eyes stuck to the screen, fixated on Lapis' character. The way her hands moved in elegant movements that no NPC possessed, her unladylike pose with her legs outstretched in front of her, that impossibly tiny waist, and the infectious smile that graced her lips.

"What.. does it feel like to like someone?" Peridot found herself saying before she would stop the words.

"Eh? Hm.. Liking someone is like.. You just can't stop it? It's hard to explain. Liking someone makes your heart beat, I guess you could say. Like it never has before, suddenly it's not just an organ in your chest, but a force driving you forward. And sometimes liking someone really, really hurts." Lapis replied, running a hand through her hair self-consciously as she turned her face away from the view of Peridot's computer screen.

"I've never liked anyone before. Being around people makes me feel.. anxious. I always say something wrong that makes people shut me out, even if I didn't mean to say anything offensive. People tell me that I'm inconsiderate and cold. So I've never had to chance to get to know enough people to like someone." The blonde sighed.

"You.. are a bit inconsiderate. But you don't mean to be, I think you just get too worked up about what you're thinking and blurt it out. You're definitely not cold. You've got a big heart." Lapis smiled, turning back to face Peridot's avatar.

"How does liking someone hurt?" Peridot asked, her body leaning close to the screen as she saw a blush pop up on Lapis' face.

"Because.. Because sometimes liking someone isn't a good thing. Sometimes.. it's impossible and you can't be together, no matter how much you want to be." The vampire replied, biting her lip.

"Do you.. like someone right now?" The blonde's questions wouldn't stop coming and she was waiting for Lapis to get irritated like she always had before any second now.

"I.. Yes.. I do." The blush was only growing and Lapis tried to cover her face with her hands.

Peridot pushed her chair back from the desk, swirling around and trying to think of who Lapis could like. She didn't seem to get along with Garnet or Pearl that well. Lapis and Amethyst didn't seem close enough.. Oh! Steven! Lapis loved hanging out with Steven! Maybe it was him. Peridot knew it couldn't be her.

Lapis had told the blonde she hated her several times, and even though they were friends now Lapis always seemed to push her away in favor of hanging out with Steven, and even sometimes any of the rest of the guild. Besides, she didn't even know if Lapis liked women. They'd seen on her social media profiles that she never disclosed her sexual preferences, and in her pictures she was just as close to guys as she was girls.

It felt like her heart was compressing. Lapis was right. When you liked someone it did feel like your heart had a mind of it's own. Sometimes liking someone could hurt. Right now liking Lapis hurt a lot. Maybe she'd feel better if she just confronted it. If Lapis herself told her that she liked someone else she could give up on this crush.

"It's Steven, right? You two are so close, and it hurts because he likes Connie." Peridot mumbled, eyes glued to the screen.

A horribly displeased look came to Lapis' face and then she suddenly looked very, very angry.

"What?! Are you crazy?! Don't you know that Steven's fourteen?! You think I'm some sort of pedophile?! We're friends!" Lapis shrieked, jumping up to her feet.

"H-Huh? No! I didn't know that he was so young! Then who do you like?!" Peridot cried, spamming the confusion emote.

"You're hopeless! I'm not going to tell you!" Lapis snapped, turning away from the blonde and towards the door, "Let's just continue the quest!"

"O-Okay.." Peridot trailed off, directing her character forward to open the door, revealing a large dragon. It breathed out a massive amount of fire at their feet, and they dodged it's attacks as they tried to get a handle on the pattern of attacks.

When they finally did they charged forward, but they weren't doing so well. They couldn't get into the flow of working together with each other with everything weighing on their minds. It was definitely not helping with a boss whose attacks kept changing once they made a little bit of progress. Every time it spat out fire it got a health bonus and it was starting to feel impossible to beat.

Their health was way too low, they needed to get out of there. There was no way they could win like this. But just as Peridot opened her mouth to say those words she looked over at Lapis to see the dragon slash at her, sending her flying across the room.

The vampire's eyes widened as she hit the wall, feeling a crack against her neck. Her collar.. it broke into pieces, falling into her lap.

"Oh no.. Peridot it-"

Before Lapis could finish her sentence she vanished. Peridot gasped, and in the same second her avatar was struck down. She reappeared in the main pavilion, all items and Lapis lost.

She stared at her computer screen, body and mind frozen as it suddenly popped up with an ad for a new event.

**'Save Princess Kaguya! An Impossible And Untouchable Love!'**


	8. Rally Together!!

Peridot had sent out a mass email to everyone in the guild to tell them what was going on and then promptly spent the rest of the night pacing back and forth in an attempt to not freak out. It wasn't working very well. When she wasn't pacing she'd sit back down and scroll through the online forum of everyone talking about the new quest.

People were desperately trying to get together strong teams for the event since going into the fray for solo play was proving to be extremely difficult. A few people reported being able to obtain a few of the items here and there.

The only real thing she'd been able to gather herself was that the quest consisted of going to the emperor's palace and asking for the ability to pursue Princess Kaguya's hand in marriage. The NPC is extremely disgruntled, but claims that if you can get all five items her previous suitors failed to obtain he would consider it.

But just like everyone else she quickly found out she was going to need everyone in the guild to do these missions. She called in sick to work and was waiting for everyone to get online. Steven and Amethyst were the first ones to get online, followed by Garnet and Pearl. Steven then proceeded to convince every other semi-active member of their guild to help. Connie, Bismuth, Centipeetle, Ruby, Sapphire, and Sadie.

Everyone had agreed to help for the weekend.

"But what happens when we find her? If we complete the quest she'll just disappear again, won't she?" Pearl asked, sighing as they made their way to the first area with a confirmed item drop.

"And what if it's not her? There's no photographic evidence leaked yet of what Princess Kaguya look like." Garnet said.

"But they always give out teasers and put quest items out for sell before the events start! But there was nothing for this giant quest! And it was announced as soon as she vanished!" Peridot rebuffed, "It's got to be her!"

"We should at least try. Lapis is part of our team." Amethyst added, "Or are you guys just happy to see her disappear?"

"Don't start arguing everyone! We need to focus!" Steven interjected, "We don't have a lot of time and I'm sure Lapis is really worried right now!"

Peridot frowned, biting on her fingernails as he brought up exactly what she was trying not to think about. Was Lapis worried? Was she lonely and scared? She pushed the thoughts away as they arrived, setting her mind on playing the best she could. The sooner they could get to Lapis the better.

\------------------------------------------------------

Five hours later and two quest items down everyone was starting to feel the toll of gaming so long, getting a bit moodier as time passed. But when they got to the dragon suddenly they could hear hiccuping and sobbing coming from Steven's mic.

"What's wrong, Steven? Are you okay?" Connie asked as everyone geared up to fight this creature and steal the gem from it's neck.

"The dragon! When I met Lapis there was a dragon and she saved me! And now she's gone! What if Garnet and Pearl are right?! What if this doesn't work and we never find her?!" Steven cried, dodging the attack that came his way.

"We're going to find her! This is going to work!" Peridot exclaimed, rushing in for an attack, "And if it doesn't that's okay! Because we will keep looking until we do! Even if it's just the two of us! No matter how long it takes! We will save her!"

The blonde narrowed her eyes at the screen, her avatar making the final blow. The dragon burst into a mass of fire, leaving the gem in it's wake.

"That was.. so cool! Peridot you're like a real hero!" Steven ran over to her, his avatar jumping up and down in victory.

"Yeah that was super cheesy Peridactyle!" Amethyst laughed, "But it did add that extra something to that attack!"

"And we got the item. Two more to go." Garnet said, picking up the gem and storing it in her inventory.

"Two more! Let's do it!" Steven cheered to everyone's relief. Things felt so stressful when even Steven lost faith. They needed his endless enthusiasm. Peridot needed her friends in this with her. She took to the forums to try to figure out if everyone had found out where the next items were yet.

\-----------------------------------

Lapis laid across the tatami mat, scrolling through her screen and items. She scowled when she saw the bouquet of flowers and closed it.

Princess Kaguya, really? And that stupid announcement. An impossible and untouchable love... now she was just being taunted. It wasn't fair. It was like beating a dead horse. But now she really knew the system was actually listening to her. Why would they set up a quest like this otherwise?

It was evil. She'd done a lot of stupid stuff for this game, but they could have kept her heart out of it. It was already bad enough. She already knew her crush was impossible. You can't love someone who doesn't have a physical being. At least, you can't kiss them or touch them. She was trapped behind a screen.

She hadn't wanted it to be like this. She'd even tried to stay away from Peridot, to create a distance. But there was no way to stop liking her. Why did she have to meet a nice girl after being trapped in a video game? Why not before?

To top it all off Peridot liked someone now. Why would she ask all those questions if she didn't? Lapis knew the blonde was inquisitive, but she didn't think Peridot would be the type to be interested in romance unless it applied. Lapis had really thought Peridot was onto her too.. and just maybe Lapis hoped that the feelings were the tiniest bit reciprocated.

But no. The blonde fool thought she liked Steven. Lapis groaned, kicking her legs up. Was all this some sort of hell? Was she dead and now this was just her punishment? To have a life that slowly got worse and worse until there was nothing left?

What had she done to deserve this? Lapis sat up, looking around the traditional style Japanese room. She wished it wasn't digital so she could put her head through the wall. Or just being able to leave would be nice too.

She really was never getting out of here. The requirements of the quest.. to find the items, battle your way through the Emperor's army, go to the moon and confess to Princess Kaguya.

There was no way Lapis was going to accept someone's proposal. Who knows where she'd end up then? She was going to reject every single one of them, she didn't care how long she was trapped in this room for. Let it be until the end of time. Lapis had had enough with this game jerking her around. This was on her terms now.

\----------------------------------------

"You.. I never thought you would find them! You can't have her! No matter how many times she rejects me I will never let you have my Kaguya!" The emperor announced, room spawning full of enemies. Peridot's heart dropped. What the hell?! This nut job said they could see her! They'd even been able to find the last item on their own!

Now they were in a sea of enemies. Not that it was stopping them, though the enemies kept respawning at a rapid rate and they were taking pretty significant damage. Peridot was so glad everyone had banded together. She and Steven could have never done this alone.

Slowly the respawning ended and they fought off the rest of them. But as soon as they went to advance towards the emperor he ran off into Princess Kaguya's room.

"Where?! Where is she?! She's gone?!" The emperor cried, NPC walking over to the table where there was a note.

"No! They took her! The people of the moon came back for her!" He wailed, "I don't need the elixir of life if I must live without her! Take it and leave!"

"Is this guy for real?" Sadie asked, "What a creep."

"No shit. I aint saying no to the free elixir though." Amethyst agreed, going up and grabbing the item.

Peridot couldn't bring herself to say anything. She left the area with her team. It really was all for nothing. Just a stupid little quest with no promise of anything. It wasn't like there was any proof it would be anything else. She turned her chair away from her desk, turned her mic off and buried her face in her hands.

She knew there was a possibility that all of this would be for nothing and that it could be a long time before she saw Lapis again. But she didn't want it to be that way! She was so sure that it would be this! She wanted so badly for it to be this! Because.. because Lapis was all alone and Peridot missed her too much already.

She was scared that she was never going to see the blue haired girl ever again. That she was never going to get to make fun of Lapis' game generated costumes or chat with her about silly things. Peridot even right now would love to see that annoyed expression on Lapis' face as she said she hated Peridot because at least that meant that she would be here.

Peridot felt the tears well up and coat her hands as she tried not to break down. It wasn't the time. She needed to focus now while they still had everyone together. They needed to do as many quests as possible before the weekend was up. She could hear all of them trying to figure out what to do, trying to ask for input. And here she was crying.

The blonde sniffled, wiping her tears away and turned back to the screen to see a notice. It was from the Princess Kaguya quest, which made her roll her eyes. She'd become the quest leader since she was there first so they'd sent her the information of all the dropped items afterwards as per usual. She scrolled through it, eyes widening when she reached the bottom. Peridot turned her mic back on immediately.

"The quest isn't over! We're going to the moon!"

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at miseryroot!


End file.
